Alabama law enforcement agencies recently conducted a traffic safety initiative called ‘Take Back Our Highways’ that led to a reduction in traffic fatalities. The Department of Public Safety announced that over the 10-day campaign that ended on Memorial Day, there were 16 fatalities, a drop of 11 from last year’s total during the same period of time.

The safety effort included Alabama state troopers, local police departments and sheriff’s departments, as well as troopers from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi. About 200 additional officers were placed on patrol, over and above the number assigned to regular patrols. The focus was on those speeding, not wearing their seatbelt, following too closely, failure to yield the right of way and driving drunk in Alabama.

The DPS director credits the safety campaign with changing driver behavior, pointing out that an estimated 300 lives have been saved since the ‘Take Back Our Highways’ program was started in 2007. During the 2010 effort, a total of 24,755 arrests were made. This included 6,907 for seatbelt violations, 8,286 for speeding and 362 for driving under the influence in Alabama.

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Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies saw that an Augusta man forced his nine-year old daughter to drink beer. The child told officers that her dad threatened to kill her if she didn’t drink. The child was staying with her father and she contacted her mother, crying and begging to be picked up. The father, Jeffery Deon Hickson, was upset about the phone call and left the house with the girl. When the mother arrived and found no one at the house, she contacted the police. Hickson returned shortly after with the nine-year old and a 5-year child from another relationship.

Sheriff’s deputies investigating the incident found Hickson, 39, to be drunk and charged him with child cruelty, child endangerment, driving under the influence in Georgia, possession of marijuana, driving with a suspended license and failure to have insurance.

The 9-year old girl was taken to a local hospital for treatment. Her blood alcohol content registered .165%.

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The Colorado State Patrol is crediting the efforts of two men who saved a suspected drunk driver from drowning. Christopher Lyons, who was in Fort Collins to enroll his son in college, and Martin Murphy, a local business owner, quickly acted after witnessing a car crash into the Lake Canal Ditch.

The driver of the vehicle, Bradley Hill, had driven onto the shoulder along the canal and then into the water around 2:00 pm Wednesday. Lyons and Murphy managed to extract him from the submerged, over-turned car.

Hill was taken to a local hospital and treated for minor injuries. He has been charged with driving under the influence in Colorado and reckless driving.

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A Yavapai County Arizona woman is facing serious charges following an auto accident three months ago. The county sheriff’s department says that the results of a toxicology test show that Jessica Wayas had significant presence of Methamphetamines/Amphetamines in her blood at the time of the incident.

On March 13, Wayas was driving her 1997 Ford Mustang when she hit a 1980 Chevy pick-up truck head-on. Wayas’ 6-year old son and 5-year old daughter were in the car and were injured from not being restrained. Wayas was treated for injuries to her upper body and leg. The 71-year old driver of the pick-up truck was treated for severe chest pain. He had recently undergone heart surgery and has been on medication and in therapy since the accident.

An investigation into the accident showed that Wayas was at fault and had crossed the center line before colliding with the pick-up truck. When the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Department received the results of the blood test from the Department of Public Safety, they filed charges of driving under the influence in Arizona, child abuse, aggravated assault and felony criminal damage. Wayas, 29, is being held on $15,000 bond.

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Both New York City police officers involved with a fatal crash in the Bronx last month had blood alcohol levels well above the legal limit for impaired driving. Officer Hoyoung Kim, who was driving at the time of the accident, had a 0.16% BAC. One of the passengers, Officer Edwin Paulino had a 0.21% BAC. Both officers were killed when their vehicle struck a guardrail on May 14 around 6:30 am.

Four female passengers in the vehicle, who are not police officers, were injured in the crash. Attorneys for the injured women are considering a lawsuit against the officer’s estates and the police department.

While police policy does not prohibit officers from drinking in their personal time, they are routinely expected to set a positive example when in public and they are subject to New York DWI laws on drinking and driving.

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A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper arrested a Harlingen police sergeant for Texas DWI over the Memorial Day weekend. Sgt. Michael Bradley Fechner reportedly ran a red light early Saturday morning. The investigating trooper said that Fechner’s speech and balance appeared ok but he had a very strong odor of alcohol and glossy eyes.

Fechner refused to submit to a breath test for blood alcohol content. He failed several field sobriety tests, including walking and turning, standing on one leg and the horizontal gaze nystagmus.

Fechner was booked on charges of driving while intoxicated in Texas. He appeared before a Cameron County judge on Saturday, and bond was set at $2,500. It is the officers first alcohol related driving offense.

Fechner, 38, remains on duty pending an investigation by the police department. If convicted of DWI in Texas, he could have his driver’s license suspended, be fined $2,000, spend up to six months in jail and lose his peace officer’s license.

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A deputy with the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s department has been arrested for driving while intoxicated in the Austin area. Deputy Michael St. Romain struck and injured a motorcyclist in San Marcos over the Memorial Day weekend. Because there was an accident with injury, local police took a blood sample to test St. Romain’s blood alcohol content. While the test results are not complete, he was booked on charges of Intoxication Assault on Wednesday.

A spokesperson with Precinct 4 in the Houston area said that St. Romain would lose his job in accordance with department policy, if he is found guilty of DWI in Texas. In the interim, St. Romain has been suspended without pay. He has been a deputy patrol officer for about 18 months.

St. Romain’s Texas DWI defense lawyer says that there is evidence that his client did not commit the offense. St. Romain was purportedly in a grocery store at the time of the accident and that someone else was driving his black Mustang. San Marcos Police say that there are currently no witnesses who can provide information about the crash or the deputy’s role. Precinct 4 is allowing San Marcos to handle the investigation of the incident.

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A Port Aransas woman is suspected of killing herself after being arrested for DWI in Texas. On Tuesday afternoon, Sherry Black Lancaster was stopped by the Port Aransas Police for drunk driving and placed in a holding cell at police headquarters until she could be transferred to the Nueces County Jail. During a routine hourly cell check around 8:30 pm, it was discovered that Lancaster had hung herself.

Police and local EMS services administered CPR, and Lancaster was transported to a nearby hospital where she was declared dead.

The Chief of Police in Port Aransas said that Lancaster was “a resident of Port A and we are going to miss her very much”. The family issued a statement saying that she was a loving wife and mother and she would be missed by all who knew her. Lancaster had no police record before Tuesday’s TX DWI arrest.

Because Lancaster died while in police custody, the Texas Rangers have been contacted to conduct an investigation.

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The Colorado State Patrol and local law enforcement agencies have launched a summer campaign against drunk driving. The state-wide initiative is called ‘100 Days of Heat’ and it will be conducted between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Police will be utilizing high visibility Colorado DUI patrols and sobriety checkpoints to spot suspected impaired drivers.

During the 2009 crackdown on driving under the influence in Colorado, officers made 3,531 arrests. Statistics show that nearly one-third of all traffic deaths involving alcohol occur between the two major holidays marking the beginning and end of summer. During 2009, a total of 191 people were killed in alcohol related accidents, equaling 41% of all traffic fatalities in Colorado.

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A recent, informal survey was undertaken in Illinois to track arrests for driving under the influence. Approximately 68% of the state